Happy weekend to you all!
I thought you might like to see the latest project I’ve embarked upon. It involves these little beauties plus black….except the turquoise one at the bottom left.
This yarn was a birthday present from my other half way back in February and I’ve been mulling over what to do with it since then. It was going to be another ripple blanket like my other one, then it was going to be a crocheted Klimt style blanket inspired by these but then I saw this one…..and I was bowled over…..completely head over heels!
Here’s my progress so far. Twenty nine squares down, seventy one to go 
I can never resist making changes to patterns (annoying isn’t it?) but there is method in my madness. I’ve decided to knit all of my squares on the diagonal and not to make the black borders by picking up along the edge and knitting as suggested by the pattern. My stitches were uneven and I didn’t like the ridge that formed on the reverse of the finished squares after picking up stitches. I also thought that the back wasn’t looking as tidy as I wanted. I like the back of a project to look as good as the front if at all possible.
So, I tried a few crochet stitches, with and without chains, one strand of yarn or two, and came up with this method which is the best of a bunch for me.
I know it’ll take ages to crochet all of the borders but it doesn’t take any brain power so I’ll be able to add the black as and when I wish during spare moments. This is part of the pink set I’ve completed so far.
Here are the purples.
These are the blues.
The pattern is very yarn hungry as it is knitted with two strands at the same time but the squares are lovely and thick and it is going to make a super chunky heavy blanket. I need to buy more yarn to finish the sets but so far I’m really enjoying mixing up the colours and watching the pile of squares grow. You will notice that I haven’t used any orange, yellow or gold yet. Hopefully, when I do get around to knitting those colours they will make the whole thing zing That’s the plan anyway. I’ve no idea which colours are used in the original. I didn’t even look because I already had these colours and wasn’t looking to buy more.
I wonder what you have all been up to while I’ve had my head in my squares…
Hopefully, you’ve been having fun crafting too!
Avis x
Sewing Beside the Sea 
fallfromgrace349
/ April 13, 2014wow I love how beautifully vibrant the colours are 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 13, 2014Me too! The best part is that all of the colour changes hold my interest. I thought it would get a bit repetitive to do but it seems great so far. Mind you, I might have to do more of the black as I go along because I know I’ll get bored doing all of the borders.
fallfromgrace349
/ April 13, 2014Im sure it’l look great 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 13, 2014🙂
Isabel's Needleworks
/ April 13, 2014Oh Avis ! I love it!! Its going to be an amazing blanket with all those gorgeous colours…Have fun 🙂
Izz
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 13, 2014Thank you Izz. I’m hoping so 🙂 It is a lot of fun to do and it is knitting up really quickly!
Aimee
/ April 13, 2014It looks brilliant so far! I love the colours (especially the purple and blues, but those are always my favourites!), and the black borders really add to the squares 🙂 Good job!
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 13, 2014My favourite colours are purple and blue too. Thank you for visiting my blog 🙂
Jule
/ April 13, 2014Marvellous! 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 13, 2014I take it you looked at the pattern and admired the concept. I knew it would appeal to you 🙂
witchylin
/ April 13, 2014WOW! It looks amazing. Like you I love purples and blues. Once the rest of the rainbow colours are added it will look brilliant. Like the idea of knitting it crosswise too. Gives it a fabulous effect. I’d like to knit a sweater the same way………….Must look into that. 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 13, 2014Great minds think alike 😉 I think a body warmer would work well with this thick texture too.
claire93
/ April 13, 2014you’re going great guns Avis – it’s look very vibrant
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 13, 2014That’s the plan 🙂
Deborah
/ April 14, 2014I’ve knit entire afghans on the diagonal (using circular needles). I love the way they look! You have much more patience than me. I would not like assembling all of those squares, but I know that with your attention to detail and needlework, it is going to be awesome. Can’t wait to see the finished work. 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 14, 2014I like the diagonal look too. After a few more squares I’m going to start assembling as I go. It’s my least favourite part of knitting and crochet so I may as well do it in manageable chunks. Actually, I saw a book recently on knitting seamless sweaters, you’ve just jogged my memory so thank you for that 🙂
Blu
/ April 14, 2014It looks incredibly vibrant!
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 14, 2014I’m hoping so 🙂
Crooked Tracks
/ April 14, 2014Wow, I love the colors, they are so bright, this is really going to look super when finished 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 14, 2014Thank you very much. I love everything bright 🙂
Carole
/ April 14, 2014What a great idea. Your version is going to look absolutely splendid 🙂
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 14, 2014I hope so. However, if it doesn’t look as good as the original, I’ll still be as snug as a bug in a rug 😉
Patch
/ April 27, 2014Oooooo, interesting and different. I like it a lot. The squares look sort of tweedy with the two colours. Looking forward to seeing it finished.
Sewing Beside the Sea
/ April 27, 2014I’m so excited about this one. I’ve got 71 squares done already and can’t stop knitting to take photos. It’s incredibly addictive. I used to knit pot holders with two strands when I was a kid and they knit up fast and chunky.